Great Lakes pirates?????
 

Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly 6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed, came up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him 6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

Don't make more of it than what it probably was.... the dudes were out on
a romp and sightseeing... they liked your boat. 3 guys could easily have
taken you out in a heartbeat if that was their intent.

If similar had happened to me up here... they would have been invited aboard
for a drink and poured back into their jet sled hours later totally smashed
drunk.

Then again I'm CANADIAN! ;-)

CM





"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
| Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the north)
| on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our port.
| I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.
|
| It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly 6kts.
| southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the cockpit
| seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines throttling
| down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
| from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
| starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was a
| shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
| passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark clothing--sweaters,
| dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
| on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
| about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed, came
up
| behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up along
| the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm flare
| gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
| it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
| The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
| inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him 6
| miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
| distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
| "You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
| while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled along
| for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.
|
| The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
| vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought a
| single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
| things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
| me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
| gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.
|
| OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.
|
| What's your take?
|
| Max
|
|

I think they were lost and didn't have the nerve to admit it. I never
realized it until recently, but there are powerboaters out there that hold
sailors in some high regard. Several weeks ago I was distributing literature
for our sail club at a marina about 25 miles south of here, pretty small
place with maybe about 40 slips, but there were 28 sailboats there. I was
walking to the sailboats and dropping the envelopes in the cockpits, a
fisherman asked me what I was doing and I told him about the club, he asked
me about the weather out on the lake! I was on foot, no indication that I
had been out on the lake(Erie) or that I could possibly have any more
information than he did on the subject. He asked me about the waves that
day, it was blowing maybe about 15kts. out of the west, he wanted to know
what I thought the waves might be like, he was on a smaller runabout, maybe
16'. I told him that the waves shouldn't be very big on this end of the
lake, the western end, without explaining that this is something he should
have been able to figure out. I really wouldn't be surprised if they were
lost and thought that you, as a sailor, would be able to help them with
directions, but in the end were to embarrassed to admit it.

John Cairns


Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly 6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed, came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him 6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

B dock out to get you?

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly 6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed, came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him 6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

In reality, that's pretty scary. Was J. upset? You should have sicced
Nikki on them....

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly 6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed, came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him 6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

Things like that don't happen here, Mooron. Motorboaters usually stay well
away from sailboaters. There is some antipathy between the groups on Lake
Michigan. Down in Chicago, the latest thing is for a group of terrorist
motorboaters to disrupt the local races. They roar in and out of the
tacklines on the course causing enough wake to capsize scows...this has been
going on for awhile and they are very wary of when the "law" is around and
haven't been caught yet....The only time we've had a close encounter of the
uninvited kind was when a beat up old O'day sailed up to us on the opposite
tack and asked if we were part of the Mac race....I guess they thought
people only fly spinnakers if they're racing...

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
...
Don't make more of it than what it probably was.... the dudes were out
on
a romp and sightseeing... they liked your boat. 3 guys could easily have
taken you out in a heartbeat if that was their intent.

If similar had happened to me up here... they would have been invited
aboard
for a drink and poured back into their jet sled hours later totally
smashed
drunk.

Then again I'm CANADIAN! ;-)

CM





"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
| Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
north)
| on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
port.
| I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.
|
| It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
6kts.
| southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
cockpit
| seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
throttling
| down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
| from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
| starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was
a
| shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
| passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
clothing--sweaters,
| dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
| on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
| about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
came
up
| behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
along
| the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
flare
| gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
| it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
| The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
| inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him
6
| miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
| distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
said,
| "You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
| while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
along
| for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.
|
| The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
| vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought
a
| single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
| things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
| me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
| gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.
|
| OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.
|
| What's your take?
|
| Max
|
|

John...you cannot get lost on Lake Michigan. For Pete's sake, the ports are
marked on road maps. From what Max posted, I'm assuming he was coming home
from Pen****er to his home port...all the channels are clearly marked and
easily seen. The only difficult channels to find are farther north at
Arcadia and Portage Lake, and even then, you always know Portage lake by the
cloud that hangs over it (it's a weird anomaly).
"John Cairns" wrote in message
. ..
I think they were lost and didn't have the nerve to admit it. I never
realized it until recently, but there are powerboaters out there that hold
sailors in some high regard. Several weeks ago I was distributing
literature
for our sail club at a marina about 25 miles south of here, pretty small
place with maybe about 40 slips, but there were 28 sailboats there. I was
walking to the sailboats and dropping the envelopes in the cockpits, a
fisherman asked me what I was doing and I told him about the club, he
asked
me about the weather out on the lake! I was on foot, no indication that I
had been out on the lake(Erie) or that I could possibly have any more
information than he did on the subject. He asked me about the waves that
day, it was blowing maybe about 15kts. out of the west, he wanted to know
what I thought the waves might be like, he was on a smaller runabout,
maybe
16'. I told him that the waves shouldn't be very big on this end of the
lake, the western end, without explaining that this is something he should
have been able to figure out. I really wouldn't be surprised if they were
lost and thought that you, as a sailor, would be able to help them with
directions, but in the end were to embarrassed to admit it.

John Cairns


Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was
a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him
6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought
a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

You assume they had charts... ;-)

"katysails" wrote in message
...
| John...you cannot get lost on Lake Michigan. For Pete's sake, the ports
are
| marked on road maps. From what Max posted, I'm assuming he was coming
home
| from Pen****er to his home port...all the channels are clearly marked and
| easily seen. The only difficult channels to find are farther north at
| Arcadia and Portage Lake, and even then, you always know Portage lake by
the
| cloud that hangs over it (it's a weird anomaly).
| "John Cairns" wrote in message
| . ..
| I think they were lost and didn't have the nerve to admit it. I never
| realized it until recently, but there are powerboaters out there that
hold
| sailors in some high regard. Several weeks ago I was distributing
| literature
| for our sail club at a marina about 25 miles south of here, pretty small
| place with maybe about 40 slips, but there were 28 sailboats there. I
was
| walking to the sailboats and dropping the envelopes in the cockpits, a
| fisherman asked me what I was doing and I told him about the club, he
| asked
| me about the weather out on the lake! I was on foot, no indication that
I
| had been out on the lake(Erie) or that I could possibly have any more
| information than he did on the subject. He asked me about the waves that
| day, it was blowing maybe about 15kts. out of the west, he wanted to
know
| what I thought the waves might be like, he was on a smaller runabout,
| maybe
| 16'. I told him that the waves shouldn't be very big on this end of the
| lake, the western end, without explaining that this is something he
should
| have been able to figure out. I really wouldn't be surprised if they
were
| lost and thought that you, as a sailor, would be able to help them with
| directions, but in the end were to embarrassed to admit it.
|
| John Cairns
|
|
| Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
| north)
| on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
| port.
| I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.
|
| It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
| 6kts.
| southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
| cockpit
| seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
| throttling
| down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat,
approaching
| from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
| starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper
was
| a
| shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
| passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
| clothing--sweaters,
| dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
| outing
| on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama
Jeanne,
| about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
| came
| up
| behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
| along
| the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
| flare
| gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot
of
| good
| it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
| something.
| The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and
he
| inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told
him
| 6
| miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
| distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
| said,
| "You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for
a
| while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
| along
| for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.
|
| The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes
one
| feel
| vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they
thought
| a
| single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
| check
| things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
| thought
| me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
| flare
| gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.
|
| OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
| suspicious.
|
| What's your take?
|
| Max
|
|
|
|
|
|

No....the lake is 80 miles across at its' widest (if that) and is ringed
around with ports that are from 15 miles to 45 miles apart...everything is
well marked...you would have to be an absolute dunderhead to not know what
the next port is (unless you ran over from Wisconsin...but then you'd have
charts...or at least a GPS)...and a 36 ft motorboat is shallow draft enough
to run way in even if they didn't know how to navigate....I think Max's
scenario about seeing a lone woman cruising is probably the correct
one...and I find that scary...I do think Max should inform the CG that this
happened...just in case....

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
...
You assume they had charts... ;-)

"katysails" wrote in message
...
| John...you cannot get lost on Lake Michigan. For Pete's sake, the ports
are
| marked on road maps. From what Max posted, I'm assuming he was coming
home
| from Pen****er to his home port...all the channels are clearly marked
and
| easily seen. The only difficult channels to find are farther north at
| Arcadia and Portage Lake, and even then, you always know Portage lake by
the
| cloud that hangs over it (it's a weird anomaly).
| "John Cairns" wrote in message
| . ..
| I think they were lost and didn't have the nerve to admit it. I never
| realized it until recently, but there are powerboaters out there that
hold
| sailors in some high regard. Several weeks ago I was distributing
| literature
| for our sail club at a marina about 25 miles south of here, pretty
small
| place with maybe about 40 slips, but there were 28 sailboats there. I
was
| walking to the sailboats and dropping the envelopes in the cockpits, a
| fisherman asked me what I was doing and I told him about the club, he
| asked
| me about the weather out on the lake! I was on foot, no indication
that
I
| had been out on the lake(Erie) or that I could possibly have any more
| information than he did on the subject. He asked me about the waves
that
| day, it was blowing maybe about 15kts. out of the west, he wanted to
know
| what I thought the waves might be like, he was on a smaller runabout,
| maybe
| 16'. I told him that the waves shouldn't be very big on this end of
the
| lake, the western end, without explaining that this is something he
should
| have been able to figure out. I really wouldn't be surprised if they
were
| lost and thought that you, as a sailor, would be able to help them
with
| directions, but in the end were to embarrassed to admit it.
|
| John Cairns
|
|
| Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
| north)
| on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
| port.
| I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.
|
| It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
| 6kts.
| southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
| cockpit
| seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
| throttling
| down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat,
approaching
| from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
| starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper
was
| a
| shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his
three
| passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
| clothing--sweaters,
| dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
| outing
| on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama
Jeanne,
| about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
| came
| up
| behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
| along
| the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
| flare
| gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot
of
| good
| it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
| something.
| The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and
he
| inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told
him
| 6
| miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
| distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
| said,
| "You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us
for
a
| while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
| along
| for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.
|
| The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes
one
| feel
| vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they
thought
| a
| single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided
to
| check
| things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
| thought
| me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding
the
| flare
| gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.
|
| OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
| suspicious.
|
| What's your take?
|
| Max
|
|
|
|
|
|

Hey, you never know. About a month or so ago we had a powerboater run
aground outside our marina. He kept coming up with lame excuses, it was
obvious that he either didn't have charts or didn't bother looking at them,
and didn't have any idea what those red and green floaty things are for, as
he went aground outside the very well marked channel going into the marina.
Plus he didn't have enough brains to have towing insurance, they ended up
calling a TOW TRUCK!!!! (yeah, he was that close to shore, maybe about 20-30
feet) to try to get him unstuck. He got lucky and a wind shift gave him
enough water to get him off. Hey, he was obviously lost too, if you think
about it.
John Cairns
"katysails" wrote in message
...
John...you cannot get lost on Lake Michigan. For Pete's sake, the ports
are
marked on road maps. From what Max posted, I'm assuming he was coming
home
from Pen****er to his home port...all the channels are clearly marked and
easily seen. The only difficult channels to find are farther north at
Arcadia and Portage Lake, and even then, you always know Portage lake by
the
cloud that hangs over it (it's a weird anomaly).
"John Cairns" wrote in message
. ..
I think they were lost and didn't have the nerve to admit it. I never
realized it until recently, but there are powerboaters out there that
hold
sailors in some high regard. Several weeks ago I was distributing
literature
for our sail club at a marina about 25 miles south of here, pretty small
place with maybe about 40 slips, but there were 28 sailboats there. I
was
walking to the sailboats and dropping the envelopes in the cockpits, a
fisherman asked me what I was doing and I told him about the club, he
asked
me about the weather out on the lake! I was on foot, no indication that
I
had been out on the lake(Erie) or that I could possibly have any more
information than he did on the subject. He asked me about the waves that
day, it was blowing maybe about 15kts. out of the west, he wanted to
know
what I thought the waves might be like, he was on a smaller runabout,
maybe
16'. I told him that the waves shouldn't be very big on this end of the
lake, the western end, without explaining that this is something he
should
have been able to figure out. I really wouldn't be surprised if they
were
lost and thought that you, as a sailor, would be able to help them with
directions, but in the end were to embarrassed to admit it.

John Cairns


Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat,
approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper
was
a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama
Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot
of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and
he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told
him
6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for
a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes
one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they
thought
a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

"Maxprop" wrote ...
He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
"You have a beautiful boat."

They were obviously on hard drugs.
;)

Was it one of those obnoxious things running open exhaust? If so, you
should have open fired as soon as they were in range. I hate those
idiots!

Scotty

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat,
approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper
was a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his
three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama
Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
came up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot
of good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and
he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told
him 6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us
for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes
one feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they
thought a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided
to check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding
the flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

"katysails" wrote in message

John...you cannot get lost on Lake Michigan. For Pete's sake, the ports
are
marked on road maps. From what Max posted, I'm assuming he was coming
home
from Pen****er to his home port...all the channels are clearly marked and
easily seen. The only difficult channels to find are farther north at
Arcadia and Portage Lake, and even then, you always know Portage lake by
the
cloud that hangs over it (it's a weird anomaly).

We were roughly 8nm north of the breakwater, which was clearly visible on a
CAVU day. My guess is that they knew where they were as it was plainly
visible. And Katy's right. Navigation on the sunset coast of Michigan
requires neither an electronic navigation aid (GPS) nor a chart, except in
fog. It's easier than driving through Detroit.

Max

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message

You assume they had charts... ;-)

You assume they'd need them. Which they wouldn't.

Max

"katysails" wrote in message

I think Max's
scenario about seeing a lone woman cruising is probably the correct
one...and I find that scary...I do think Max should inform the CG that
this
happened...just in case....

It's been reported to the CG. They appreciate such reports, according to
Group Grand Haven. Most such incidents go unreported, they said.

Max

katysails wrote:

No....the lake is 80 miles across at its' widest (if that) and is ringed
around with ports that are from 15 miles to 45 miles apart...everything is
well marked...you would have to be an absolute dunderhead to not know what
the next port is

Katy, you greatly overestimate the minimum intelligence necessary to
drive a stinkpot. He was probably looking for the sign that said
"Pen****er, Next Exit"

--
//-Walt
//
// http://cagle.slate.msn.com/working/040514/matson.gif

"katysails" wrote in message

B dock out to get you?

Nah. They're way too passive. Now A dock . . .

Max

"katysails" wrote in message

In reality, that's pretty scary. Was J. upset? You should have sicced
Nikki on them....

J. was as unnerved as I. Nik was in doggy camp for the week.

Max

"Scott Vernon" wrote in message

Was it one of those obnoxious things running open exhaust? If so, you
should have open fired as soon as they were in range. I hate those
idiots!

I do have a 10ga. signal cannon, but thought better of using it. :-)

In all honesty, I'm a boater, not just a sailor. I love all boats, power,
sail, self-powered, etc. I also happen to like go-fast boats, even though
I'd never own one for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that
they get boring very quickly and burn huge amounts of fuel. I've crewed (as
the throttle man) on a 42' Fountain in several races--grueling half hour of
pounding and noise, but fun.

Max

Kuods to you max for keeping a cool head and taking positive steps to not be
a victim. The encounter may have been innocent but your insticts said it
wasn't quite right. I agree with the other guy who said report it to the
coast guard "just incase" It's always better to be safe then sorry. Also
you'd be surprised what a flare pistol can do to flammable (and not so
flamible) odjects.

Good sailing to you
Kevin


"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly 6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed, came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him 6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

While it's a good idea to be aware of potential danger, it sounds to me
like they could have been lost. Dressed ominously? It's the style these
days, don't you ever go to the movies?

BTW I hate to disagree with Kevin but a flare gun is useless as a
weapon. It is designed so as not to set things on fire if discharged
accidentally. If you shot a man point-blank with a flare gun, he might
get a bruise and a scorch mark on his T-shirt. He also might yank the
thing away from you and jam it up your nose.

Maxprop wrote:
In all honesty, I'm a boater, not just a sailor. I love all boats, power,
sail, self-powered, etc. I also happen to like go-fast boats, even though
I'd never own one for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that
they get boring very quickly and burn huge amounts of fuel. I've crewed (as
the throttle man) on a 42' Fountain in several races--grueling half hour of
pounding and noise, but fun.

I tend to take a philosophical approach to all types of vessels, too;
but go-fast boats ('penis substitutes') are my least favorite. They're
evry bit as dangerous as guns, too. It is only a matter of time before
our wonderful gov't takes steps to make sure they are regulated &
controlled.

Somewhat over a decade ago, I worked for a small company that received,
in a bankruptcy deal, a genuine 45' offshore racing power boat with 3
~500hp engines. My boss had the great idea that we could tune it into
top shape and win some big bucks... the damn thing would really go 100+
and it was very unpleasant to be aboard while it was doing it. We also
found out just how difficult it is to machine props...

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

DSK wrote:

I tend to take a philosophical approach to all types of vessels, too;
but go-fast boats ('penis substitutes') are my least favorite.

They rank right below jet-skis on the annoyance scale. We call 'em
Viagra boats, for obvious reasons. Whenever my wife sees one she holds
her thumb and forefinger about two inches apart to indicate her
assessment of the the manliness of the driver. Fortunately, I don't
think the Viagra-boaters quite understand the meaning.

They're
evry bit as dangerous as guns, too. It is only a matter of time before
our wonderful gov't takes steps to make sure they are regulated &
controlled.

Well, they *are* regulated and controlled, just like any other boat
(COLREGS, registration, PFDs, etc.) the problem is that they're not
regulated and controlled enough. You wanna go 100 mph with no muffler?
fine - just do it 5 miles away from shore (and from everybody else) I
regularly see these clowns on lakes less than a mile across.

--
//-Walt
//
// http://cagle.slate.msn.com/working/040514/matson.gif

It could have been a Canadian vessel..... ??

CM

"katysails" wrote in message
...
| No....the lake is 80 miles across at its' widest (if that) and is ringed
| around with ports that are from 15 miles to 45 miles apart...everything is
| well marked...you would have to be an absolute dunderhead to not know what
| the next port is (unless you ran over from Wisconsin...but then you'd have
| charts...or at least a GPS)...and a 36 ft motorboat is shallow draft
enough
| to run way in even if they didn't know how to navigate....I think Max's
| scenario about seeing a lone woman cruising is probably the correct
| one...and I find that scary...I do think Max should inform the CG that
this
| happened...just in case....
|
| "Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
| ...
| You assume they had charts... ;-)
|
| "katysails" wrote in message
| ...
| | John...you cannot get lost on Lake Michigan. For Pete's sake, the
ports
| are
| | marked on road maps. From what Max posted, I'm assuming he was coming
| home
| | from Pen****er to his home port...all the channels are clearly marked
| and
| | easily seen. The only difficult channels to find are farther north at
| | Arcadia and Portage Lake, and even then, you always know Portage lake
by
| the
| | cloud that hangs over it (it's a weird anomaly).
| | "John Cairns" wrote in message
| | . ..
| | I think they were lost and didn't have the nerve to admit it. I
never
| | realized it until recently, but there are powerboaters out there
that
| hold
| | sailors in some high regard. Several weeks ago I was distributing
| | literature
| | for our sail club at a marina about 25 miles south of here, pretty
| small
| | place with maybe about 40 slips, but there were 28 sailboats there.
I
| was
| | walking to the sailboats and dropping the envelopes in the cockpits,
a
| | fisherman asked me what I was doing and I told him about the club,
he
| | asked
| | me about the weather out on the lake! I was on foot, no indication
| that
| I
| | had been out on the lake(Erie) or that I could possibly have any
more
| | information than he did on the subject. He asked me about the waves
| that
| | day, it was blowing maybe about 15kts. out of the west, he wanted to
| know
| | what I thought the waves might be like, he was on a smaller
runabout,
| | maybe
| | 16'. I told him that the waves shouldn't be very big on this end of
| the
| | lake, the western end, without explaining that this is something he
| should
| | have been able to figure out. I really wouldn't be surprised if they
| were
| | lost and thought that you, as a sailor, would be able to help them
| with
| | directions, but in the end were to embarrassed to admit it.
| |
| | John Cairns
| |
| |
| | Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to
the
| | north)
| | on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from
our
| | port.
| | I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.
| |
| | It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making
roughly
| | 6kts.
| | southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
| | cockpit
| | seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
| | throttling
| | down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat,
| approaching
| | from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off
our
| | starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The
skipper
| was
| | a
| | shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his
| three
| | passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
| | clothing--sweaters,
| | dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an
afternoon
| | outing
| | on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama
| Jeanne,
| | about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow
speed,
| | came
| | up
| | behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled
up
| | along
| | the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our
25mm
| | flare
| | gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A
lot
| of
| | good
| | it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
| | something.
| | The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat
and
| he
| | inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We
told
| him
| | 6
| | miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in
the
| | distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and
finally
| | said,
| | "You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us
| for
| a
| | while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore),
idled
| | along
| | for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.
| |
| | The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly
makes
| one
| | feel
| | vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they
| thought
| | a
| | single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they
decided
| to
| | check
| | things out further before reacting. It is possible they might
have
| | thought
| | me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding
| the
| | flare
| | gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.
| |
| | OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
| | suspicious.
| |
| | What's your take?
| |
| | Max
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|

"Maxprop" wrote in message
hlink.net...
|
| "Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
|
| You assume they had charts... ;-)
|
| You assume they'd need them. Which they wouldn't.

Huh? ... are the bottom contours so level as to negate chart requirements
there?

God Grief... what would happen to me If I had sailed up on you out there
....Flying a Jolly Roger and commenced firing water balloons???



CM

Just be thankful they were not down here in the Caribbean
Drug runners steal and loot boats all the time.

NH_/)_

--

irc.sailirc.net
Server http://sailirc.net
Dns 4.12.68.230
Ports 6660-6669


"kvn87" wrote in message
news:UNHWc.14576$nk.4525@okepread05...
Kuods to you max for keeping a cool head and taking positive steps to not
be
a victim. The encounter may have been innocent but your insticts said it
wasn't quite right. I agree with the other guy who said report it to the
coast guard "just incase" It's always better to be safe then sorry. Also
you'd be surprised what a flare pistol can do to flammable (and not so
flamible) odjects.

Good sailing to you
Kevin


"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was
a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him
6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought
a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

"Maxprop" wrote in message link.net...

What's your take?

You did all the right things except you did not have a proper Pirate
rifle on board.

Most likley they were just impressed with your vessel our the fact a
lady was the only one in view. Just trying to pick up a babe until
they saw she was not alone.

Joe



Max

No...he does have a beautiful boat....

"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...

"Maxprop" wrote ...
He then conferred with the other young men, and finally said,
"You have a beautiful boat."

They were obviously on hard drugs.
;)

If you aimed it at the reserve gas tank though......
"DSK" wrote in message
.. .
While it's a good idea to be aware of potential danger, it sounds to me
like they could have been lost. Dressed ominously? It's the style these
days, don't you ever go to the movies?

BTW I hate to disagree with Kevin but a flare gun is useless as a
weapon. It is designed so as not to set things on fire if discharged
accidentally. If you shot a man point-blank with a flare gun, he might
get a bruise and a scorch mark on his T-shirt. He also might yank the
thing away from you and jam it up your nose.

Maxprop wrote:
In all honesty, I'm a boater, not just a sailor. I love all boats,
power,
sail, self-powered, etc. I also happen to like go-fast boats, even
though
I'd never own one for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is
that
they get boring very quickly and burn huge amounts of fuel. I've crewed
(as
the throttle man) on a 42' Fountain in several races--grueling half hour
of
pounding and noise, but fun.

I tend to take a philosophical approach to all types of vessels, too;
but go-fast boats ('penis substitutes') are my least favorite. They're
evry bit as dangerous as guns, too. It is only a matter of time before
our wonderful gov't takes steps to make sure they are regulated &
controlled.

Somewhat over a decade ago, I worked for a small company that received,
in a bankruptcy deal, a genuine 45' offshore racing power boat with 3
~500hp engines. My boss had the great idea that we could tune it into
top shape and win some big bucks... the damn thing would really go 100+
and it was very unpleasant to be aboard while it was doing it. We also
found out just how difficult it is to machine props...

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Except for a few isolated spots close in and in various straits, Lake
Michigan is DEEP....we are not talking Erie here....you can usually anchor
within 300 feet of the beach in 20 ft of water....the other thing is that
you can tell where the sand shoals are by the breakers over the top of
them....even on calm days, you can tell where the shallows start because of
the water color difference (cold and warm thermal layers causing color
changes)...
"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
...

"Maxprop" wrote in message
hlink.net...
|
| "Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
|
| You assume they had charts... ;-)
|
| You assume they'd need them. Which they wouldn't.

Huh? ... are the bottom contours so level as to negate chart requirements
there?

God Grief... what would happen to me If I had sailed up on you out there
...Flying a Jolly Roger and commenced firing water balloons???



CM

ohoh...you been mixing those weird drinks again, haven't you?
"Maxprop" wrote in message
link.net...

"katysails" wrote in message

B dock out to get you?

Nah. They're way too passive. Now A dock . . .

Max

I'm not another guy....

"kvn87" wrote in message
news:UNHWc.14576$nk.4525@okepread05...
Kuods to you max for keeping a cool head and taking positive steps to not
be
a victim. The encounter may have been innocent but your insticts said it
wasn't quite right. I agree with the other guy who said report it to the
coast guard "just incase" It's always better to be safe then sorry. Also
you'd be surprised what a flare pistol can do to flammable (and not so
flamible) odjects.

Good sailing to you
Kevin


"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat, approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was
a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told him
6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they thought
a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

Clearwater has moved to the Caribbean?????
"NH~_/)~" wrote in message
news:FUMWc.1346$OP2.1001@trnddc01...
Just be thankful they were not down here in the Caribbean
Drug runners steal and loot boats all the time.

NH_/)_

--

irc.sailirc.net
Server http://sailirc.net
Dns 4.12.68.230
Ports 6660-6669


"kvn87" wrote in message
news:UNHWc.14576$nk.4525@okepread05...
Kuods to you max for keeping a cool head and taking positive steps to
not
be
a victim. The encounter may have been innocent but your insticts said it
wasn't quite right. I agree with the other guy who said report it to the
coast guard "just incase" It's always better to be safe then sorry. Also
you'd be surprised what a flare pistol can do to flammable (and not so
flamible) odjects.

Good sailing to you
Kevin


"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...
Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to the
north)
on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from our
port.
I'll report the incident and let you all make your own judgments.

It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making roughly
6kts.
southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of the
cockpit
seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
throttling
down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat,
approaching
from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper
was
a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three
passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
clothing--sweaters,
dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an afternoon
outing
on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama
Jeanne,
about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow speed,
came
up
behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled up
along
the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our 25mm
flare
gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A lot
of
good
it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least doing
something.
The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat and
he
inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We told
him
6
miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in the
distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and finally
said,
"You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking us for
a
while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore), idled
along
for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.

The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly makes
one
feel
vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they
thought
a
single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they decided to
check
things out further before reacting. It is possible they might have
thought
me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin, holding the
flare
gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.

OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
suspicious.

What's your take?

Max

Nah....Canadian vessels ALWAYS fly honkin bit maple leafs off their
stern.....

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
...
It could have been a Canadian vessel..... ??

CM

"katysails" wrote in message
...
| No....the lake is 80 miles across at its' widest (if that) and is ringed
| around with ports that are from 15 miles to 45 miles apart...everything
is
| well marked...you would have to be an absolute dunderhead to not know
what
| the next port is (unless you ran over from Wisconsin...but then you'd
have
| charts...or at least a GPS)...and a 36 ft motorboat is shallow draft
enough
| to run way in even if they didn't know how to navigate....I think Max's
| scenario about seeing a lone woman cruising is probably the correct
| one...and I find that scary...I do think Max should inform the CG that
this
| happened...just in case....
|
| "Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
| ...
| You assume they had charts... ;-)
|
| "katysails" wrote in message
| ...
| | John...you cannot get lost on Lake Michigan. For Pete's sake, the
ports
| are
| | marked on road maps. From what Max posted, I'm assuming he was
coming
| home
| | from Pen****er to his home port...all the channels are clearly
marked
| and
| | easily seen. The only difficult channels to find are farther north
at
| | Arcadia and Portage Lake, and even then, you always know Portage
lake
by
| the
| | cloud that hangs over it (it's a weird anomaly).
| | "John Cairns" wrote in message
| | . ..
| | I think they were lost and didn't have the nerve to admit it. I
never
| | realized it until recently, but there are powerboaters out there
that
| hold
| | sailors in some high regard. Several weeks ago I was distributing
| | literature
| | for our sail club at a marina about 25 miles south of here, pretty
| small
| | place with maybe about 40 slips, but there were 28 sailboats
there.
I
| was
| | walking to the sailboats and dropping the envelopes in the
cockpits,
a
| | fisherman asked me what I was doing and I told him about the club,
he
| | asked
| | me about the weather out on the lake! I was on foot, no indication
| that
| I
| | had been out on the lake(Erie) or that I could possibly have any
more
| | information than he did on the subject. He asked me about the
waves
| that
| | day, it was blowing maybe about 15kts. out of the west, he wanted
to
| know
| | what I thought the waves might be like, he was on a smaller
runabout,
| | maybe
| | 16'. I told him that the waves shouldn't be very big on this end
of
| the
| | lake, the western end, without explaining that this is something
he
| should
| | have been able to figure out. I really wouldn't be surprised if
they
| were
| | lost and thought that you, as a sailor, would be able to help them
| with
| | directions, but in the end were to embarrassed to admit it.
| |
| | John Cairns
| |
| |
| | Last Saturday, while returning home from a nearby port (35nm to
the
| | north)
| | on Lake Michigan this happened to us when we were about 8nm from
our
| | port.
| | I'll report the incident and let you all make your own
judgments.
| |
| | It was a sunny day, 10kts. from the west, and we were making
roughly
| | 6kts.
| | southbound, my wife at the helm. I'd just lain down on one of
the
| | cockpit
| | seats when I heard the rumble of a couple of large gas engines
| | throttling
| | down. I peeked over the coaming to discover a go fast boat,
| approaching
| | from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off
our
| | starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The
skipper
| was
| | a
| | shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his
| three
| | passengers were all younger men dressed in heavy, dark
| | clothing--sweaters,
| | dark pants, etc. Not exactly what one would expect for an
afternoon
| | outing
| | on the old go-fast. All were standing in their boat, the Panama
| Jeanne,
| | about 38' long. They turned toward us and approached at slow
speed,
| | came
| | up
| | behind us, and stalked us for about 5 minutes. Then they pulled
up
| | along
| | the port side. During this time I went below and obtained our
25mm
| | flare
| | gun, loaded it, and stuck two additional flares in my pocket. A
lot
| of
| | good
| | it would have done, but it made me feel that I was at least
doing
| | something.
| | The skipper then yelled something to us. We asked him to repeat
and
| he
| | inquired as to the distance and direction to our home port. We
told
| him
| | 6
| | miles (a lie, but we could see the breakwalls of the channel in
the
| | distance). He then conferred with the other young men, and
finally
| | said,
| | "You have a beautiful boat." I said, "Thanks." After stalking
us
| for
| a
| | while longer they finally drifted off to port (toward shore),
idled
| | along
| | for another five minutes, then sped off to the south.
| |
| | The experience was unnerving, to say the least. It certainly
makes
| one
| | feel
| | vulnerable when traveling at 6kts. My take on this is that they
| thought
| | a
| | single woman was traveling alone, and when they saw me they
decided
| to
| | check
| | things out further before reacting. It is possible they might
have
| | thought
| | me armed, as my arm and hand were extended into the cabin,
holding
| the
| | flare
| | gun, while I was standing in the cockpit.
| |
| | OTOH it could have been innocent, but such behavior is certainly
| | suspicious.
| |
| | What's your take?
| |
| | Max
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 01:09:57 GMT, "Maxprop"
wrote this crap:

from the rear, had slowed and nearly stopped about 30 yards off our
starboard beam. I grabbed the binocs and took a look. The skipper was a
shaggy-looking middle-aged man dressed in a muscle shirt and his three


What's your take?


You just met my relatives. It's a good thing you didn't offer them a
drink.





Pathetic Earthlings! No one can save you now!

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message

"Maxprop" wrote in message


| "Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
|
| You assume they had charts... ;-)
|
| You assume they'd need them. Which they wouldn't.

Huh? ... are the bottom contours so level as to negate chart requirements
there?

For travel on Lake Michigan? Yes. The bar sits about 25 yards off the
beach. Only an idiot would venture in that far with a sailboat, and
powerboats cross it daily.


God Grief... what would happen to me If I had sailed up on you out there
...Flying a Jolly Roger and commenced firing water balloons???

We'd have hoisted our Jolly Roger and fired the signal cannon back atcha.
But true pirates don't fly the JR. They sneak up on you pretending to be
idiots asking directions, or whatever.

Max

"katysails" wrote in message

ohoh...you been mixing those weird drinks again, haven't you?

Odd, but no one on A dock has done any of those this year. Pretty sedate
year, if you ask me. Disappointing, actually.

Max

"Walt" wrote in message

You wanna go 100 mph with no muffler?
fine - just do it 5 miles away from shore (and from everybody else)

At full throttle most of the go-fasts can be heard for well over 10nm on
Lake Michigan, unless the wind is howling. Lots of them are from Chicago,
driven by Ill-annoy-ans.

Max

"kvn87" wrote in message

Kuods to you max for keeping a cool head and taking positive steps to not
be
a victim. The encounter may have been innocent but your insticts said it
wasn't quite right.

I guess one had to be there to understand exactly why it felt wrong.
Normally when someone is approaching, either by sail or power, they wave
and/or smile. These guys did neither. They also conferred among themselves
while looking our way--a suspicious behavior to be sure. Then they stalked
us from astern for about 5 minutes--equally suspicious. During the entire
episode, all were standing in the boat, none sitting, which is odd because
the rear seats were just that--not bolsters. It just felt wrong from the
get-go. We've been approached while on Lake Michigan before, on a rare few
occasions. And in each case nothing seemed amiss. This time nothing seemed
right. In a discussion following the incident, my wife's impressions
mirrored my own to the letter. It just wasn't right.

Max

"Capt. Mooron" wrote in message

It could have been a Canadian vessel..... ??

Nah. They appeared sober.

Max

Was there no other boats in sight?

SV

"Maxprop" wrote in message
link.net...

"kvn87" wrote in message

Kuods to you max for keeping a cool head and taking positive steps
to not
be
a victim. The encounter may have been innocent but your insticts
said it
wasn't quite right.

I guess one had to be there to understand exactly why it felt wrong.
Normally when someone is approaching, either by sail or power, they
wave
and/or smile. These guys did neither. They also conferred among
themselves
while looking our way--a suspicious behavior to be sure. Then they
stalked
us from astern for about 5 minutes--equally suspicious. During the
entire
episode, all were standing in the boat, none sitting, which is odd
because
the rear seats were just that--not bolsters. It just felt wrong
from the
get-go. We've been approached while on Lake Michigan before, on a
rare few
occasions. And in each case nothing seemed amiss. This time
nothing seemed
right. In a discussion following the incident, my wife's
impressions
mirrored my own to the letter. It just wasn't right.

Max